Crypto Scandal: «The $4,000 to Pay Karina,» Audio Linking Milei and His Sister Exposed

Original article: Criptoestafa: “los 4000 que hay que darle a Karina”, el audio que compromete a Milei y su hermana

«We can ask for the $4,000 to be given to Karina.» This phrase was uttered casually, as if discussing a routine administrative task, and it echoes through the halls of federal courts in Argentina. It was spoken on April 2, 2024, by Mauricio Novelli—the trader behind the crypto scam $LIBRA—in an audio message sent to a collaborator identified as «Ara» (Araceli).

In this message, Novelli provided precise instructions on how to manage a payment intended for Karina Milei, sister of President Javier Milei and Secretary General of the Presidency, just four months after the so-called «libertarian» took office in the Casa Rosada.

The complete audio, accessed by Página/12 as part of the annexes from the examination conducted by the Dirección General de Investigaciones y Apoyo Tecnológico a la Investigación Penal (DATIP), reveals a payment structure involving not only the sister of the far-right figure but also a network of financiers and crypto «caves» that operated normally near the executive power.

«What’s up, Ara? If there’s no problem, coordinate with Camilo, you know? I won’t be going to the office tomorrow, but obviously you can go without a problem. She needs to get paid, meaning we have to take out the money from Derek, which is the $800 every month. Then we add yours, and we can request the $4,000 that needs to go to Karina,» says Novelli in the audio, according to judicial documents.

The instructions continue with surgical precision: «If you want, coordinate tomorrow for a request that sums the $800, plus your $400, and then the $4,000 for Karina, and have it delivered to where you are at the office. That will be paid with USDT from N&W.» This last reference points to N&W, the company run by Novelli and Jeremías Walsh, where Milei had given classes and promoted another failed cryptocurrency called $VULC.

The mention of «Camilo» is neither casual nor secondary. It refers to Camilo Rodríguez Blanco, a Colombian resident in Argentina who manages a crypto «cave» and, according to reports from the Secretaría para la Investigación Financiera y el Recupero de Activos, received millions in transfers from American businessman Hayden Davis, the creator of $LIBRA, which were funneled into a wallet for Novelli and his associate Manuel Terrones Godoy.

The Novelli-Milei Connection

Judicial investigations have reconstructed that the relationship between Mauricio Novelli and Javier Milei dates back at least to 2021, long before the liberal economist arrived at the Casa Rosada. At that time, the libertarian was teaching at Novelli’s business academy and was providing his support as an emerging public figure.

However, what could have been interpreted as mutual advising back then now takes on a completely different dimension in light of the evidence.

Past records reveal how naturally Novelli operated within the corridors of power once Milei assumed the presidency. Access logs to the Casa Rosada show that throughout 2024, the trader visited Balcarce 50 on ten occasions, three of which he was accompanied by Hayden Davis. These visits are in addition to four times he went to the Olivos residence, the presidential estate.

On November 1, 2024, for instance, Novelli was at the Casa Rosada from 14:06 to 14:56, authorized from the President’s private secretariat. On that same day, in an action deemed highly significant by investigators, Novelli sent himself a message that reads: «Pay Javier kari.» The date is notable because just days earlier, the Tech Forum—a lobbying event—had taken place, featuring Milei as a speaker at closing, where Hayden Davis, his father Tom, and his brother Giddeon were present in the front row.

The Forensics Revealing Million-Dollar Agreements

Novelli’s messages are just a small part of what the DATIP’s forensics annexes contained, which analyzed the devices of both Novelli and Sergio Morales, a former advisor to the Comisión Nacional de Valores, who may also have played a fundamental role in the scheme.

But these messages add clarity to drafts and notes that refer to agreements and payments, particularly a text found on Novelli’s phone that mentions an agreement with «H» (believed to be Hayden Davis) totaling $5 million.

The text describes a staggered payment structure: $1.5 million upfront, another $1.5 million when Milei would announce Davis’ company Kelsier or family as advisors, and $2 million upon a «personal contract signing with Milei for blockchain/AI advisory for the Argentine government and/or for Javier Milei, and review with Javier and Karina.» This document, which Novelli stored on his phone, serves as a roadmap for how payments should be executed to obtain the desired benefits.

The implementation of that plan seems to have correlated with reality. On January 30, 2025, Davis and Milei took a photo that the Argentine president shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account, stating the businessman was advising him as the supposed contract’s text anticipated.

This «tweet,» as per the described payment structure, was valued at $1.5 million. Minutes before that meeting, Davis sent two transfers of $507,000 that reached Novelli and Terrones through an intermediary identified as Orlando Mellino, a retiree with an address listed in a park in the Buenos Aires Province of Tigre.

The Role of Camilo Rodríguez Blanco and His Financial Operations

The name and role of Camilo Rodríguez Blanco are particularly significant in a report from the Secretaría para la Investigación Financiera y el Recupero de Activos and the Dirección General de Recupero de Activos—both agencies of the Public Prosecutor’s Office—requesting account immobilization last September. The report further indicated that Rodríguez Blanco’s cave could have served as an «exit ramp» for potential «payments to officials.»

The document, signed by María del Carmen Chena and María Fernanda Bergalli, which prosecutor Eduardo Taiano has held for seven months, states that Rodríguez Blanco was evidently an intermediary receiving substantial virtual assets directly from Hayden Davis and acting as a link, forwarding these assets to the implicated Mauricio Novelli and Manuel Terrones Godoy.

A chat between Novelli and a staff member involved in organizing the Tech Forum provides hints of the close connection with the Colombian financier. «

«Alright, I’m on my way. I’ll go straight to the financial institution then and tell them to withdraw in Mauricio’s name, and I’ll wait for you at 12:30 in moi,» «Fran» wrote to Novelli on October 15, 2024, at 12:02. Novelli replied «no» and clarified: «You’re both on the list.» Right after, he sent the contact of Camilo, labeled as «Camilo Cripto Quant.»

In another record, Novelli explained: «You’re both on the list,» and if needed, «you tell them to call Camilo on my behalf.»

The experts’ report indicates that Rodríguez Blanco had funded an Ethereum address for Novelli and Terrones with funds from Davis, identifying three key transactions: one on December 3, 2024, for $180,000; another on January 17, 2025, for $35,000; and a notable one on February 4, for $695,990.

Opening of Safety Deposit Boxes

This last transaction, registered on February 4, 2025, is particularly significant because on that same day, Novelli opened two safety deposit boxes at Bank Galicia in the Buenos Aires locality of Martínez. Only ten days remained before the launch of $LIBRA, which was announced by Milei on February 14 at 19:01, after which he claimed to have no link to the project and preferred not to promote it any further.

The report from Chena and Bergalli maintains that the funds sent by Rodríguez Blanco «from Bitget to the multi-signature address CPE1 (of Novelli and Terrones Godoy) executed on 02/04/2025, meaning ten days prior to the launch of $LIBRA, were provided by Hayden Davis and could constitute potential indirect payments to public officials for the realization of the investigated actions.»

The specialists noted that Rodríguez Blanco’s «intermediation» could have facilitated the outflow of cash to «avoid tracing in the corresponding blockchain, considering the temporal coincidences with Novelli opening the safety deposit boxes.» As revealed by this newspaper, Novelli went to the bank accompanied by his mother, Alicia Rafaele, and his sister, Pía Novelli, to fill the safety boxes. They emptied them on February 17, the first business day after the collapse of $LIBRA, which caused losses of over $280 million, influenced by the message published by the «libertarian,» although Davis officially acknowledged $100 million.

Financing Before the Launch of $LIBRA

An additional detail linking the Colombian financier to the launch of that token is that he carried out exchange operations with $LIBRA just moments before Milei tweeted urging the purchase of that asset, promising it would fund small ventures. Before these transactions, Rodríguez Blanco received $150,010 from Davis.

«Not only did he possess insider information regarding the launch of the token, but he also received funding to operate with it,» concluded the report from the fiscal experts, as noted by Página/12.

The same analysis showed that Davis was also the one who sent two transfers of $507,000 just before the meeting with Milei on January 30, 2025, money that arrived at Novelli and Terrones through the aforementioned Orlando Mellino, a retiree whose registered address in a park in Tigre suggests the use of frontmen or low-income individuals to obscure the true destination of the funds.

To enhance the numerical coincidences, the experts’ document elaborated: «It has been established that Hayden Davis made transfers to those appearing as his intermediaries, whose funds were sent to addresses that have been frozen and the remaining balance was possibly delivered in cash to those investigated, totalling USDC/USDT 5,780,546 between January 30 and February 21, 2025.»

This figure, close to $6 million, aligns with amounts mentioned by other crypto entrepreneurs who interacted with the government during those days. Following the Tech Forum in October 2024, at least two entrepreneurs spoke of money requests to meet with Javier Milei. Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, mentioned being told that «magical things would happen» in that case. Meanwhile, Diógenes Casares, a decentralized finance specialist at Stream Finance, revealed that a respected individual informed him that «a government official had been paid, whether as a bribe or a consulting fee.» Casares specifically mentioned $5 million. Neither of the two entrepreneurs formally testified in the case.

A chat, shared by the specialized site Coin Desk, also surfaced where Davis claimed to «control» Milei.

«I send money to his sister and he signs what I say and does what I want. Craziest shit,» reads the text.

Milei’s Sister at the Center of the Scandal

The recurring mention of Karina Milei in Novelli’s messages, chats, and notes, as well as in Davis’ statements, places Karina Milei, Secretary General of the Presidency, at the heart of the judicial storm.

«The $4,000 to be given to Karina» from the April 2024 audio, combined with the «Pay Javier kari» from the self-sent message in November, and Davis’ reference to sending money to the sister so that the President would sign what he wanted, create a web of indications that the President’s defense will have to explain in the case.

The temporal coincidence between messages mentioning payments to the Argentine President’s sister and Novelli’s visits to the Casa Rosada and Olivos, alongside Davis’ presence at official events and meetings with the libertarian, strengthens the investigators’ hypothesis about the existence of a parallel financing structure operating close to the executive power.

The fact that Novelli’s messages include precise instructions on how to withdraw money from Camilo Rodríguez Blanco’s «cave,» using different people as intermediaries, and the subsequent opening of safety deposit boxes in a bank days before the launch of $LIBRA, suggest a modus operandi designed to avoid traceability of the funds.

Calls for Javier and Karina Milei to Testify

While prosecutor Taiano continues to analyze the evidence, including not only the audios and chats but also reports from financial bodies and virtual wallet movements, political repercussions have quickly emerged. Opposition sectors have requested the summoning of the President and his sister for questioning, along with all those involved in the scheme.

The case, which has already shocked the financial and political worlds due to the magnitude of the scam affecting thousands of small investors who trusted the presidential tweet, now takes on a new dimension with this evidence suggesting the existence of prior agreements and covert payments to ensure official support for $LIBRA.